The widely-anticipated G1 phone made by HTC, has a touch-sensitive screen, a computer-like keyboard, Wi-Fi connections and uses Google's new Android operating system. Available in three colors -- black, white and brown -- it includes familiar Google services, such as Google Maps, Gmail and YouTube. Like the iPhone and other "smartphones" the device is meant to broaden the appeal of Web surfing on the go.

NEW YORK (Reuters)
- T-Mobile has rolled out Google's answer to the iPhone as the Web
search giant makes its biggest stab yet at leaping from consumers'
computers into their pockets with a device cheaper than rival Apple
offers.

Available in three colors -- black, white and brown -- it includes
familiar Google services, such as Google Maps, Gmail and YouTube. Like
the iPhone and other "smartphones" the device is meant to broaden the
appeal of Web surfing on the go.

"If we see more mobile Web usage we'll be happy," Google co-founder
Sergey Brin told Reuters after arriving at the launch on roller-blades.

His company, a powerhouse in Web advertising, would benefit if
Android led more cell users to spend time on the Web, no matter which
phone they are using.

Analysts saw the device as a "good first step" rather than an iPhone
killer, but some expect as many as 400,000 to be sold in the United
States by year-end. A T-Mobile executive said the estimate was "not
incredible."

When it becomes available to U.S. consumers on October 22, the G1
will sell for about $179 -- slightly cheaper than the entry-level price
of $199 for Apple Inc's (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) iPhone -- with a two-year contract.

The G1 will be launched by T-Mobile's UK unit in November and other
European countries such as Germany, Netherlands and the Czech Republic
in the first quarter of 2009.

"The G1 doesn't threaten Apple now, but Android has raised the bar
for competing mobile platforms. The bigger concern here is for
Microsoft and Nokia if Google can win over the hearts and minds of
operators and developers," said Geoff Blaber, an analyst with British
firm CCS Insight.

NEXT GOOGLE PHONE MAY CHANGE

Both Google and Apple are wooing developers to create applications
for their devices, but unlike Apple, which keeps a tight grip on the
iPhone's hardware and operating software, Google's Android is open to
be changed by outside developers.

Asked if the user interface of future Google phones would look
anything like the first one, Andy Rubin, who developed Android for
Google, said: "Its completely replaceable."

For example, Leslie Grandy, T-Mobile USA's product development vice
president sees the carrier selling a range of Google-powered phones in
future, including more basic ones without a touch-screen or full
keyboards.

The new phone features Android Market, where customers can find and
download free applications to expand and personalize their phones.
T-Mobile's Grandy said the marketplace would eventually include
applications that are sold for a fee.

"Because the platform is open, we think Android is somewhat future
proof," Rubin, Google director of mobile platforms, told the audience
at the launch.

A similar strategy helped increase the buzz around Apple's
second-generation iPhone, which can support more than 3,000
applications available online.

Amazon.com's digital music store will be loaded on the G1, allowing
users to search, download, buy and play more than six million songs,
pitting it against iPhone's music player.

Android also competes with Microsoft's Windows Mobile operating
system, which has been solidly gaining ground. HTC Chief Executive
Peter Chou told Reuters his company, which has concentrated on Windows
phones so far, is already planning more Android and Windows devices.

Between the United States and the United Kingdom, Chou said he expects to have sold more than 400,000 G1 by the year end.

Android's biggest competitor is Symbian software, which represents
60 percent of the smartphone market and which Nokia (NOK1V.HE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) plans to buy out and open to other developers.

Nokia, which has about 40 percent of the mobile phone market, has
also branched into mobile Web services such as mapping that compete
directly with Google. Speaking at a conference in Chicago on Tuesday,
Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said he was not worried by new
competition.

"The entry of Apple and Google -- in fact today in a very concrete
way -- in mobile communications is the best possible illustration of
the fact that there's a lot of possibility here," he said.